i can has cromulence?

[rone]

This lyric from Sarah McLachlan's "Do What You Have to Do" has bugged me since i first heard it:

What ravages of spirit
conjured this temptuous rage?

[Poll #1299996]

I must note that i picked up the 'you insensitive clod' option from ewx, although it seems that senji has also used it.

Comments

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

I must confess that, as the first part of this post I glanced at was the poll question itself, the Sarah that leapt to mind was a different one.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

We do not talk about that Sarah anymore. Not here, at any rate.

[anavolena.livejournal.com]

Amazing the power of the mind. After reading this poll, I forced myself to listen to the line to verify that all this time, I'd apparently be interpolating the missing syllables to make it make sense.

lol

[butterflygenius.livejournal.com]

Temptuous is a perfectly cromulent word.....

Re: lol

[tau-iota-mu-c.livejournal.com]

That embiggens us all.

Re: lol

[epileptikitty.livejournal.com]

I don't want to know what embiggens you.

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

My guess is somewhere between tempting and tempestuous, but that wasn't given as an option, you insensitive clod.

The word "Clod" needs to be used more in day to day life (and I applaud your use), as opposed to being kept primarily in the domain of Danish Lego ads.

[mskala.livejournal.com]

The "You Insensitive Clod" thing is an old Slashdot joke.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I got the impression of tempting-tempestuous, too, but i'm not sure that that would make any sense.

[sanspoof.livejournal.com]

"Clod" is also primo vintage MAD magazine, which is most of why I love it.
Axolotl.

[kodi]

Clearly, she meant "tempt-you-ous"; describing something which is explicitly designed to tempt its target and no other.

You should ask

[notr.livejournal.com]

"Eccentricity (http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/5753/)," who claims to have translated this line from Virgil but doesn't tell us what it means.

[eb-oesch.livejournal.com]

Sarah McLachlan is a poet. Poets don't just make malapropisms. After analyzing the context, I have concluded that "temptuous" here means, "Help! An elephant is eating my rutabagas."